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Cancún and Playa del Carmen (27 May - 2 June 2014)

Kristina and my first wedding anniversary was May 31st, and my birthday was June 1st - two good reasons for a holiday! When I first arrived in Texas about three years ago, Kristina and I did a little road trip that took us south near the Mexico border. I thought it'd be cool to walk across the border, get some lunch, take some photos, and walk back again. So we did :) With that being the case, strictly-speaking this wasn't my first trip to Mexico hehe. Anyway, this trip was to be very different from our many others. We usually go somewhere and spend all day every day doing and seeing as much of the place as possible. By the end of it, we're completely exhausted and in need another break. This time, however, it was all to be rest and relaxation at all-inclusive resorts and beaches on the very touristy Yucatán Peninsular in the far east of Mexico. What's better, the resorts were completely free! Kristina is a travel agent, and in return for selling nights at these resorts to her clients, the resorts hook her up with discounts and freebies - brilliant! From 20-bed hostel dormitories to all-inclusive resorts - we do them all ;) After a quick stop in Kristina's home town of San Antonio in Texas for a friend's wedding, we spent three nights in Cancún followed by another three nights an hour's drive away in Playa del Carmen on Mexico's Riviera Maya. After an extremely long New York winter, I was in dire need of some sunshine!

One of Kristina's best friends growing up, Lyssa, was tying the knot, and in the absence of a photographer for her rehearsal dinner I stepped in to do the honours.		I wasn't going to bother for the wedding day, but given I'm considering pursuing the photography thing on at least a semi-professional basis someday it's all good practice.
Mr and Mrs.		The venue was in the middle of absolutely nowhere outside of San Antonio and was a bloody nice spot. I was driving people home after the reception so there were no drinkies for me. Instead I amused myself by taking a few night shots of the joint :)
Rain has been a pretty rare sight in Texas over the last several years, but it sure turned it on for us and ruined our commute down to Mexico. We were due to fly out of San Antonio at 6:30am, change planes in Houston, and arrive in Cancún at 11:30am. Instead we were told no flights could depart San Antonio due to a major storm cell in the area, so that delayed us for an hour. Then we were told Houston had been shut down because of a major storm cell over there, so that delayed us for another hour. We eventually boarded the plane and taxied toward the runway only to then be told by the pilot there was some sort of problem with the plane and we needed to return to the gate and fetch a mechanic, so all that took another hour. Once that was resolved, we were informed that Houston had shut down again hahaha! After all said and done, we eventually took off at exactly the same time we were supposed to be touching down in Cancún. But it gets better. The air conditioning unit on the plane was apparently broken and so we spent the 60-minute flight to Houston in sweltering heat, and when we finally arrived in Cancún late that afternoon our luggage was missing hahaha! So it was one big cluster fuck all round really, but never mind. Our luggage was delivered to our resort later that night.
So then, this was our resort in Cancún - ME Cancún, and this was the view from our room.		We'd be hitting the beach later on but look at the colour of that water!

The ME is a pretty swanky joint! It has over 400 rooms, a huge spa area, and several bars and restaurants - all of them free for us ;) It's just one of a countless number of resorts in the so-called Hotel Zone of Cancún with each of them targeting a specific type of traveller, from the drunks who just want to party and make an ass of themselves, to the romantics who want something of a more intimate setting.

After scoping the place out we hit the pool!

Being an all-inclusive, all food and drinks are included in the room rate (not that we paid one). You can spend all day stuffing your face and washing it down with copious amounts of whatever and pay nothing. I'm not used to holidaying like this ;)

Surrounding the pool are several Bali beds with waiters on hand to take any food and drink orders hehe. I'll take one of everything thanks!

Later that afternoon we hit the beach, and I ventured out to play in the surf. Note the colour of my back. Evidently I hadn't been dousing myself with as much sunscreen as I had been with free alcoholic beverages from the pool bar.				When we got back to our room that night to spruce ourselves up for dinner, room-service knocked on the door and handed us this! I'm not sure whether this is typical, or just the resort's way of greasing up a travel agent.

Dinner that night was in the resort's hibachi restaurant, where the chef cooks it all up in front of you and puts on a bit of a show while he's at it. Videos here and here.

Hibachi restaurants - the only way to know for sure the chef didn't spit on your food ;)

The next day we caught a bus into town. In a nutshell, it's tourist central with numerous clubs to cater for the drunk partiers I mentioned earlier, and souvenir shops with the typical pushy and aggravating shop owners. "Hey, amigo! What you looking for?! You want cigars?! You want tequila?! Hey where you going?!" Piss off.				Gee, it's not all four- and five-star resorts. This place looks as though it's about to implode.

We instead opted to do our souvenir shopping in the Mexi outlet store hehe.				Suddenly, tequila!

After being rather uninspired by the goings on outside of the resort, it was back to the pool for the rest of the day - cheers!

That night the resort was hosting a private event for Ferrari. Damn! My midlife crisis can't come soon enough.		After dinner we raided the bar, kicked back, and relaxed. And that was that for Cancún!

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